i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a treatment for Kawasaki disease (acute febrile mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome).
ii) Description of the Background Art
Kawasaki disease is a trouble reported for the first time in 1967, is usually liable to attack infants of four years and downward, and shows symptoms that a patient is suddenly attacked by a high fever which lasts for 5 days or longer, the conjunctiva is congested, lips and a tongue turn crimson, the cervical lymph node is swollen, and a rash appears on the whole body. Although the mortality rate of Kawasaki disease is of the order of 1-2%, the greatest problem thereof is that coronary lesions remain as sequelae in 10-20% of the patients.
Although the cause of Kawasaki disease is not yet made clear, infection and immunity are the likeliest to participate in. Asteroid hormone therapy has heretofore been conducted as a treatment for this disease. However, steroid preparations often cause harmful side effects. In the case of Kawasaki disease in particular, a limitation is imposed on its application because the patients are infant.
On the other hand, a globulin therapy, namely, an intravenous drip of a human immunoglobulin preparation has been conducted recently. However, this therapy is very expensive and hence has involved a problem that a patient and its family have too many things on their hands. For example, if an infant of one-year old which has contracted Kawasaki disease is treated with a human immunoglobulin preparation, the expense amounts to about 200,000-400,000 yen in 5 days. Further, the effectiveness toward the prevention of the development of the sequelae, i.e., coronary lesions, which is the greatest problem in Kawasaki disease, is not fully satisfied.